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Thursday, December 29, 2011

John Heard and Elizabeth Hull

Between the year 1620 and 1640, the period known as The Great Migration, approximately 20,000 colonist landed on the shores of New England. Two of those brave immigrants were men, both named John Heard, and both of whom lived in Maine at at least some point. Unfortunately the lives of these two men have become intertwined and some false information added to the mix, making for confusion as to who is who. My ancestor is the John Heard who married Elizabeth Hull. Here is what I know about him.

John Heard of Maine

John Heard, who was not my ancestor, was supposedly a sea captain and known as Captain John Heard. His wife' s name was Isabel (Warwick) and they lived in Kittery, Maine. They had two sons,Warwick and Ensign James Heard. James married either Shuah Starbuck or Shuah Conley. This family remained in Kittery, ME well into the 1700's.

John Heard of Dover, New Hampshire

The second John Heard was a master carpenter who lived for a while in York, Maine, a bit further up the coast from Kittery, but eventually settled in Dover, New Hampshire. The English origins of this John are unknown, neither his birthplace nor his parents have been identified. Multiple ancestry.com trees and websites list the parents of John as Luke Heard and Sarah Wyatt. This is not true. John was born around 1610 and married Elizabeth Hull in 1643. Sarah Wyatt was born in 1623 and married Luke Heard in 1642. Now it doesn't take to much analysis to see that it is impossible for Sarah and Luke to be John's parents, yet there they are in hundreds of trees. The old cut and paste genealogy at work! Luke and Sarah did have a son named John, he died in 1696, unmarried, in Andover, Massachusetts.

Hull Association opinion on John HeardLuckily for us, Elizabeth Hull, John's wife had a famous, or infamous, if you please, father. He was a well known minister whose history is well charted. The Hull Family Association has done a lot of research on the Hull Family and have issued the following statement:

HFAm #6, Elizabeth Hull, who married John Heard, has some erroneous information on Elizabeth’s husband. There were two John Heards and Elizabeth did not marry the one designated as Captain John Heard, of Kittery, York County, Maine, who was a sea captain, and married Isabel [_?_]. Elizabeth married the John Heard who was a carpenter of Dover, Strafford County, New Hampshire. Also the parents of Elizabeth’s husband, John, were not Luke and Sarah (Wyatt) Heard. Elizabeth Hull Heard’s husband’s parents are unknown.

This statement seems to clear up the issue of John's parents, however, it adds to the confusion of which John did what. The John of Kittery and Sturgeon Creek, Maine called himself "yeoman" in his will and is also called a carpenter. In the book History of Dover, John of Dover is said to have been in the shipping business and therefore called Captain. I am not sure which of these statements is correct.

Elizabeth Hull

North Leigh Church

Elizabeth Hull was born in approximately 1628 in North Leigh, Devon, England. Her DOB is based on the age given in the ship manifest when the family left for New England in 1635. Her father was the Reverend Joseph Hull. Joseph was married twice, at the time of the sailing his wife was listed as Agnes. She was his second wife, the name of the first is unknown. Some claim that the first wife was called Joana Coffin, but this is not true. If fact Robert Charles Anderson does not think there is any reason to believe that her name was even Joana.

Anyway, Elizabeth sailed with her family and multiple members of her father's congregation, leaving Weymouth, England on March 20th and landing in Boston on May 6th, 1635.

John and ElizabethJohn Heard and Elizabeth Hull married about 1643 and their son Benjamin was born within a year. A John Heard signed the Dover Combination in 1640 and although I have read that it was the other John Heard who was the signer, it doesn't make much sense as it was our John who lived and died there.Dover was first settled by by William and Edward Hilton, brothers, and fishmongers from London. It was established for purely economic reason, not religious. In 1631 there were only three houses in the settlement. The plantation of Cochecho was bought in 1633 by a group of English Puritans who wanted to establish a hereditary aristocracy in New England. This pursuit failed to be popular with the people and in 1641 the plantation was sold to Massachusetts. According to "The History of Dover" John was not taxed in 48, 49, or 1650 and the tax records are missing until 1657 when he is taxed. He was assessed various rates through the years, especially for payment for the minister. In 1648 he was assigned a lot in the Cochecho Marsh. In 1665 John was chosen to be on the grand jury. He was also given a grant of land in the Cocheco settlement on which he built a garrison house, it was known for many years as "Heard's Garrison". A garrison house was a fortified house that was used to shelter from Indian attacks. Children all born in DoverBenjamin b. 20 Feb. 1644 m. 1. Elizabeth Roberts, 2. Ruth Eastman d. either 1703 or 1710William b. ? , d. Nov. 1 1675, leaving widow but no childrenMary b. Jan 6 1650, m. John Hamm of Dover May 6 1688, d. 1706Abigail b. Aug. 2 1651, m. Jenkin JonesElizabeth b. Sept. 15 1653, m. 1. James Nute, 2. James Furber, d. Nov. 9 1705Hannah b. Nov 22 1655, m. John NasonJohn b. Feb 24 1659, not mentioned in his father's willJoseph b. Jan 4 1661, d. young, not in his father's willSamuel b. Aug 4 1663, m. Experience Otis, she was scalped by Indians on July 26 1696, she survived for a while, later dying on Feb. 8 1700.Tristram b. March 4 1667 m. Abigail, d. 1734Nathaniel b. Sept. 20 1668 m. Sarah, d. April 3 1700, she married William Foss.Dorcus b. 1670 m. Jabez Garland RIPJohn wrote his will on 2 April 1687 and he died 17 January 1688/89. His will was not probated until 1692 because of the Indian troubles. He named in his will his wife Elizabeth and his children: Benjamin, Tristram, Samuel, Dorcas, Nathaniel, Mary, Abigail and Elizabeth. In 1703 Tristram petitioned that there had been no will and that he was the only surviving son. His brother Nathaniel's widow, now Sarah Foss, testified that the will had indeed been probated and the estate divided. This has led to come confusion over the date of death of the eldest son Benjamin, who seems to have been alive at that time, he died in 1710.

Indian attack on Dover

After years of peaceful co-existence with the local Indians, trouble began brewing in the 1670's. In 1676 a large number of Massachusetts Indians arrived followed shortly by soldiers who, in what is called "the Sham War", separated them from the locals and returned them to Massachusetts where many were imprisoned or hung. This did not sit well with the local Indians. By 1684 the Governor of New Hampshire ordered that the meeting house be garrisoned and that each local neighborhood fortify a house to be used as a garrison. The home of John and Elizabeth Heard was chosen because of its position on a knoll. The garrisons were built to withstand bullets and attacks by fire. They were surrounded by a log palisade.

On June 26th, 1689 the Indians launched a coordinated attack on the Garrisons of Dover. With help from Indian women who slept inside, the Indians were let into the Garrisons. Twenty three colonist were killed and twenty nine captured. One, a three month old child was taken to Canada and was raised by Catholic Nuns, she eventually returned to Dover a married 45 year old woman.

Elizabeth Heard and her family (three sons, one daughter, and their families) had been in Portsmouth, New Hampshire for unknown reasons and were returning to Dover on the very morning of the attack. Their garrison was being guarded by William Wentworth, who was awakened by a barking dog, got up and closed the palisade gates. The Heard family made their way up the river in the dark and upon smelling smoke and hearing the cries of the attacking Indians realized what was happening.

Elizabeth became incapacitated by fright and begged her family to abandon her and head for their garrison. They deposited her in some bushes and left her. After the attack she made her way home and found her house and family intact. Her story was recorded by Cotton Mather. Elizabeth died 30 November 1706.

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I
am an amateur genealogist who is interested in more than just names and dates. As a history buff I love to place my ancestor in their time and imagine how their lives were lived. I also am trying to weed out the junky genealogy that I find on the web.